LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Honda: Soichiro Honda
built 619 days ago
Soichiro Honda, being a race driver himself, could not stay out of international motorsport. In 1959, Honda entered five motorcycles into the Isle of Man TT race, at that time the most prestigious motorcycle race in the world. While always having powerful engines, it took until 1961 for Honda to tune their chassis well enough to allow Mike Hailwood to claim their first Grand Prix victories in the 125 and 250 cc classes. Hailwood would later pick up their first senior TT wins in 1966 and 1967. Honda's race bikes were known for their "sleek & stylish design" and exotic engine configurations, such as the 5-cylinder, 22,000 rpm, 125 cc bike and their 6-cylinder 250 cc and 380 cc bikes.
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Honda was founded by Soichiro Honday, a mechanic who developed his own idea for piston rings in 1938, after working at Art Shokai. He attempted to sell them to Toyota, who contracted with him. He built a facility to meet Toyota's demands, but it was almost completely destroyed during World War II.
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Honda began to produce a range of scooters and motorcycles and Soichiro Honda quickly recovered from the losses incurred during the war. Honda's first motorcycle to be put on sale was the 1947 A-Type (one year before the company was officially founded). However, Honda's first full-fledged motorcycle on the market was the 1949 Dream D-Type. It was equipped with a 98cc engine producing around 3 horsepower (2.2 kW). This was followed by other highly popular scooters throughout the 1950s.
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Soichiro Honda